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A regulatory element within a gene of a ribosomal protein operon of Escherichia coli negatively controls expression by decreasing the translational efficiency

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Summary

The trmD operon of Escherichia coli consists of the genes for the ribosomal protein (r-protein) S16, a 21 kDa protein (21K) of unknown function, the tRNA(m1G37)methyltransferase (TrmD), and r-protein L19, in this order. Previously we have shown that the steady-state amount of the two r-proteins exceeds that of the 21K and TrmD proteins 12- and 40-fold, respectively, and that this differential expression is solely explained by translational regulation. Here we have constructed translational gene fusions of the trmD operon and lacZ. The expression of a lacZ fusion containing the first 18 codons of the 21K protein gene is 15-fold higher than the expression of fusions containing 49 or 72 codons of the gene. This suggests that sequences between the 18th and the 49th codon may act as a negative element controlling the expression of the 21K protein gene. Evidence is presented which demonstrates that this regulation is achieved by reducing the efficiency of translation.

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  1. Department of Microbiology, University of Umeå, S-901 87, Umeå, Sweden

    P. Mikael Wikström & Glenn R. Björk

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  1. P. Mikael Wikström
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  2. Glenn R. Björk
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Communicated by H. Hennecke

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Mikael Wikström, P., Björk, G.R. A regulatory element within a gene of a ribosomal protein operon of Escherichia coli negatively controls expression by decreasing the translational efficiency. Mol Gen Genet 219, 381–389 (1989). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00259610

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00259610

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